Disclaimer: Both characters belong to Alliance/Paul Haggis/Paul Gross. No textbooks were harmed in the writing of this fic.

Author's Notes: Big thanks to Jennifer, nancy and Caroline over at the
DueSouth Slash Beta list for noticing things like one finger, two finger . . . .

Story Notes: I was trying to do some homework and I got to wondering how Ray would handle the assignment. Then I wondered how Fraser would handle it. Ergo, one PWP. The book Fraser is reading, *The American Sailing Navy,* is a real book covering the development of the American Navy under sail. It's big with lots of pictures.

"Gah! I'm never going to understand this stuff." The sound of a pencil clattering against the wall caught Fraser's attention and he looked up from the copy of The American Sailing Navy he was reading to see Ray run his hands through his hair.

"Ray?" His lover looked up from where he was sitting at the table and sighed.

"Oh, it's not that. I mean, if I work at it I can get it. But I don't see where it's usable. I mean, what am I going to use this for?" Fraser put a finger in the book to hold his place.

"What are you studying now?" Ray had been forced to take an extension course to upgrade his skills. Ray had reluctantly signed up for the course, "Technical Mathematics", telling Fraser he didn't know how more math was going to make him a better detective. Fraser didn't comment as he was of the opinion that any learning was a benefit. For the last ten weeks Ray had struggled through the course-work and with Fraser's occasional assistance he was doing well. That didn't mean he wasn't frustrated at times.

"Ok. Vectors. I mean, when am I going to use this? This stuff is for, uh, machinists or rocket scientists or something. Not a cop." He sat back in the chair, dejected. Fraser looked at him for a moment and came up with an idea. He smiled to himself -- it would help Ray understand the uses of vectors and they would both enjoy the demonstration.

"Ray, why don't you take a break for a while."

Ray looked up at the tone in Fraser's voice and grinned.

Soon both men were in the bedroom, naked. They were both sweating and Ray was breathing heavily. Fraser decided that now was the time for the demonstration.

"So, Ray, you're working with vectors." Ray looked up at him from where he was splayed on the bed.

"Uh? Yeah. Come on Frase, I'm dying here." Fraser smiled down at him and glanced at his fingers, three of which were currently inside of Ray's body.

"Don't worry Ray. I would like you to think about this for a moment. Imagine that my fingers are a vector, that is the length of them is the magnitude of the vector and where I put them is the angle of the vector." Ray's eyes glazed slightly as Fraser pressed in and up slightly.

"Oh, yeah, you got the angle right Benton-buddy. That's . . . definitely the right angle." Fraser continued his demonstration.

"A multitude of vectors can be resolved into a result, thereby giving one vector." He scissored his fingers, gaining the double goal of opening Ray a bit and making his point. Ray squirmed and moaned softly.

"Resolve, result, yeah, ok." Fraser brought his fingers back together and resumed the slow stroking.

"Now if I were to change the degree of the angle of the vector the effect would be noticeable." Ray grunted and a wiggle confirmed that the change was noticed. He resumed the previous angle and Ray sighed.

"Yeah, got it." Ray started humming softly as his hand wandered down his belly to grasp his erection.

"If we change the magnitude of the vector the effect is also quite noticeable." He pulled his fingers out and Ray hissed softly. After some adjusting of his legs and Ray's bottom Fraser slowly entered Ray, moving carefully to give him time to adjust. Fraser panted slightly but managed to manfully continue his lecture.

"A greater . . . magnitude to the vector . . . ." He stopped talking as the instinctive need to thrust over-wrote whatever he had been thinking. Ray didn't have any trouble talking.

"Oh, man, love that magnitude Frase. Just keep . . . magnituding right up in there." Fraser followed Ray's instruction as his voice brought him back to the subject at hand.

"Yes, unh, Ray. Um, the magnitude . . . can also, oh, also be considered the, ah, the force, or, or, or the, ah, the speed of the, ah, the vector." He began to thrust more quickly and Ray was enthusiastically lifting his hips to meet Fraser; both of them were panting heavily.

"Oh, YEAH, vector me Ben, do it, do it, do it . . . ."

The result was inevitable and they both ended lying by each other, hands entangled and listening to their heartbeats slow. Ray began snickering and Fraser rose to lean on his elbow. He trailed a finger through the liquid on Ray's abdomen.

"Ray?" Ray turned his head and grinned at him.

"Hey, Frase, do you think you can help me with factors?"

End Practical Applications by Ashlan: Ashland40@yahoo.com

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